All that Glitters
by chica blanca
Summary: All that glitters ain’t gold…An AU real world story featuring the Bleach cast. “Bigger problems?” He snorted. “You’ve got to be kidding me. When the old man finds out what you created…and then that you lost it.”
1. Chapter 1

Title: All that Glitters

Title: All that Glitters

Warnings: language, AU-ish-ness, eventual violence, sarcasm, possible OOC-ness,

Disclaimers: I don't own bleach…sucks don't it?

Pairings: the only definite is Toshiro/Rangiku and Yoruichi/Urahara.

Summary- All that glitters ain't gold…An AU real world story featuring the Bleach cast.

"Bigger problems?" He snorted. "You've got to be kidding me. When the old man finds out what you created…and then that you _lost_ it."

Chapter 1 – Big Brother

The crowded penthouse apartment throbbed with loud music as the well dressed, orange haired man made his way through the crowd to his sister's side. Karin Kurosaki was being the perfect host, moving through the crowd with an ease that was usually reserved for her twin. But tonight was her night. Between landing the Junior partner spot in the Manhattan law firm and finally convincing her normally absent older brother to visit, she was on cloud nine and woe to anyone who knocked her off.

Ichigo, previously stated absent older brother, was about to gain his sister's notice by tapping her on the shoulder when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Dropping his hand, he reached into his pants pocket and pulled the offensive object into view.

His scowl deepened when he noticed the flashing icon. He shot a look at his sister, who had still not noticed his presence, before slinking off to find a quiet corner.

The balcony was the only place that was quiet and deserted enough. He leaned against the railing and flipped the silver phone open before dialing and holding it to his ear. It only rang once before the other end picked up.

"Ah, Kurosaki! How good of you-"

"Can it, bucket head. I'm not in the mood." Ichigo hissed into the mouthpiece.

"No need to be so insulting…"

"Look, I'm on vacation. Do you hear me? VACATION…visiting my sister's, in fact I believe that was your suggestion? Something about needing to unwind? So, my dear friend and soon to be dead employer, why the HELL are you calling me?"

"Tsk, tsk, you know you can't kill me, it voids the will…"

"If you don't get to the point quickly, I won't care."

"Alright." Ichigo could hear the change in the man's voice. He stood up from the railing; this must be serious. "I need you to come back."

"Back?"

"Yes, you see the thing is…do you remember that certain, eh…item of delicate nature…that I was shipping about two weeks ago?"

Ichigo rubbed his forehead with his fingertips, trying to forestall a migraine. "Yes…"

"Well, the item that showed up is not the item I shipped."

Ichigo blinked, twice. "You lost it?" There was just a hint of exasperation in his voice. "You do realize if this gets out…"

"Yes, yes, my life…and yours as well probably…will be forfeit. However we have bigger problems."

"Bigger problems?" He snorted. "You've got to be kidding me. When the old man finds out what you created…and then that you _lost_ it."

"He's not going to find out. And I didn't lose it, it is just not in my possession at the moment."

Ichigo sighed. "You said bigger problems?"

"The rat knows, and probably knows where it is now."

Ichigo felt ice creep into his veins as that thought soaked into his mind. "We are royally screwed, and it's all thanks to you."

"Not all is lost. I know who has it now, and they don't even know what they have."

"I hear a 'but' coming…"

"Yes, well. Bayakuya Kuchiki's younger sister has it in her possession."

"Shit." Ichigo needed a drink. "You just had to make this difficult, didn't you?"

"Just because now you can't storm in, kill everybody, and take it back doesn't mean you have to bite my head off…"

"Whose head am I supposed to bite off? Besides, don't make me sound like that ape, Kenpachi."

There was laughter on the other side of the line. "Is that a way to talk to your superiors?"

Ichigo growled. "Tickets?"

"On their way." Came the smug reply.

"Now I just have to explain to my sisters why I'm leaving early."

"Good luck!"

"Bite me, bucket head." He snapped before clicking the phone shut.

Straightening his clothes and trying to think of a good excuse, he reentered the party and managed to locate his sister. Karin was by the bar, chatting with some blonde when Ichigo tapped her shoulder.

"Ah, Ichigo, let me introduce… why that look?" The blonde temporarily forgotten, Karin fixed her older brother with a glare that would do Medusa proud.

"I have to leave, urgent business…"

Her eyes narrowed. "You said you were on vacation…promised that you would stay the full month this time…"

Ichigo winced. He hated doing this to his sisters. "Something came up, and apparently I'm the only one that can handle it…"

Karin smiled an apology to her friend before dragging her brother towards the kitchen, safely away from all of her guests.

"You are always rather vague about what you're up to lately, Ichigo." Shit, she was in lawyer mode.

Ichigo went on the defensive. "You never asked when I bought this place…or put you and Yuzu through college."

She bit her lower lip. "I just…don't want you to do anything dangerous…"

Ichigo smirked. "Dangerous? I'm an investment consultant. The most dangerous thing I do is try and get my client to _not _invest in something that's going to drain his entire account."

She fixed him with another one of her glares and he slowly lost the smirk. "Ichigo, I'm not sixteen anymore. Please try and remember that."

He sighed and shook his head. "It's hard to remember that." They stared at each other for a few more seconds.

"You're not going to tell me." Her eyes said she already knew this, "Just stay safe, and say goodbye to Yuzu before you leave." She turned on her heel and left.

Ichigo nodded before following her out of the kitchen. His other younger sister was easy to find. Surrounded by male admirers she was laughing merrily at what one of them just said. They seemed to scatter to the winds, however, when he showed up.

"Ichigo! I haven't seen you all night!"

Ichigo took a deep breath before plastering a bright smile on his face. "I know. Hey, Yuzu, um, something came up at work and I have to fly back tonight…I'm really sorry."

Where Karin glared, Yuzu pouted. It was almost more effective. "Awww…and I wanted you to come by the restaurant…"

"Next time, I promise. Now I have to catch my flight…I'll call you when I land."

"Promise?" Hopeful eyes caused his heart to squeeze.

"Of course." He hugged her tight before making his way through the crowd towards the back of the apartment, where the bedrooms were.

The guest room he had been staying in for the past two weeks was rather strewn with his stuff. He wasn't very gentle as he packed, wincing as he heard his laptop make a rather nasty thudding sound as it hit the floor. Sure that all of his belongings ended up in one of the two bags in his hands, he snuck out the back way, not eager to pass through the party room once again.

He hailed a cab and settled into the cracked leather seats. As the illuminated city passed him by, his mind was already thousands of miles away.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - 5,668,999 to 1

Ichigo blinked as his eyes were assaulted with the bright sunshine as he stepped out of the LAX terminal. With one hand shading his eyes, he spotted the familiar black Escalade and even more familiar giant leaning against it.

"Chad." He tossed one of his bags, thankfully the one without his abused laptop, at the towering man and placed the second in the back of the SUV before climbing in the passenger seat.

Chad climbed into the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition. Ichigo leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. "Urahara is _there,_ right?"

"He hasn't left the compound in five days."

Ichigo's eyes snapped open. "He's actually taking things seriously?"

Chad shot him a look, while crossing three lines of traffic and making their exit. He didn't need to speak for Ichigo to understand what he was saying. Urahara was worried.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence until they came upon the tall, razor wire topped fence that surrounded the 'compound' as Ichigo liked to call it. The SUV rolled to a stop outside the gate and Chad reached outside the window to punch in the security code; a code that changed every five hours.

After they pulled through the gate they passed through a thicket of trees before coming to the building. It was a concrete structure, five stories tall, with few windows. Chad pulled the Escalade into the underground garage and the two men stepped out into the cool darkness. Most of the lights underground were off, isolating them in a pool of light.

Each man grabbed a bag before heading to the thick steel door. Another keypad and another code later they were both in the elevator heading for the second floor. The interior would have been a surprise to anyone who had only seen the exterior of the building.

The entry way fanned out into a large living area, complete with large screen TV and large sectional couch. On the left hand side, through an archway, was a descent sized dining room with a table set for ten. Through the dining room, a glimpse of the kitchen could be seen.

Chad grabbed Ichigo's other bag as Ichigo left the elevator. Chad gave him an unreadable look before punching a button on the elevator causing the doors to slide shut.

Ichigo continued through into the kitchen and smiled softly in greeting at the woman standing before the stove. "Hi, Yoruichi."

The dark skinned woman turned from the pot she was currently stirring and gave him a half smile in return. "Hi to you too, Ichigo." She set the spoon down and crossed the short distance to plant a soft, quick kiss to his cheek. She leaned back and scrutinized his face. "It's really that serious, eh? Just how deep in shit is he this time?"

Ichigo averted his eyes and shrugged, trying to plaster a convincing smile on his face. "You know him, he can wriggle out of anything."

She raised an eyebrow skeptically before sighing. "He's upstairs."

Ichigo nodded before deftly stepping around her and stealing a bite of the stew cooking in the pot. "Ah…HOT!" He fanned his mouth and yanked the fridge door open, while Yoruichi laughed at his distress. He glared at her over the carton of juice he was currently chugging.

Taking a deep breath after he finally lowered the juice, he spit out, "It wasn't that funny."

She smirked and shrugged. "That's what you get for stealing food…" She sang.

Ichigo rolled his eyes before walking back towards the elevator. "I'll get you back for that." He vowed. She just laughed harder.

He pressed the number three on the elevator and the doors slid shut. Rubbing his burnt tongue against the roof of his mouth, he plotted his revenge on the dark skinned woman. The doors slid open to reveal a large space, practically dominating the entire floor.

Computer terminals took up most of the far wall, complete with five over sized screens. A large conference table that could seat thirty or so was to the right, completely covered in papers and stacks of files. The left hand side of the room looked a bit like something out of a sci-fi movie, with machines and half finished machinery along with a small lab setup.

Ichigo easily spotted his eccentric employer slouched in one of the chairs on the near side of the table, his ever present green and white striped hat pulled low over his eyes and his head buried in his arms. Ichigo had been pretty sure he was asleep so when Urahara's voice echoed through the room, Ichigo jumped.

"How was the flight?" he lifted his head and stared blearily at the orange haired man as he took a seat beside him.

"Long. Want to start explaining?" His eyes scanned the mountains of files and papers stacked around the table.

Urahara sighed. "Why not? You already know what I was working on and the fact that I needed to ship it back here after…"

"After you failed to sell it." Ichigo waved his hand in the air. "Yes, yes I know. Just explain to me how you managed to lose it?"

Urahara tilted his head to the side and glared at him. "I didn't _lose _it, it was _stolen._"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Fine…then how did you manage to get it _stolen_?"

A large sigh echoed through the room. "I failed to contemplate the idea that my transporter would try and steal from me. You see, he must have thought it was no more that a black diamond in the setting and figure he could replace it with one less…desirable and I wouldn't know the difference. But he didn't know it wasn't an ordinary diamond."

"So he sold it to Kuchiki?"

Urahara shook his head. "No, he sold it to a jeweler, who sold it to Kuchiki, who in turn gave it to his younger sister for her twenty-second birthday."

"How did you learn all of this?"

A scary smile passed over Urahara's face. "My transporter was quite _talkative_ by the time I was through with him."

"What are the odds that it would end up with one of the thirteen families?" Ichigo shook his head.

"About 5,668,999 to 1. Someone up there must hate me." Urahara grumbled.

Ichigo chuckled. "If you weren't always going behind the Thirteen's back, you wouldn't be in the mess in the first place."

Urahara shot him a dirty look. "You know the old man's going senile. He wouldn't understand what I'm inventing…wouldn't see the value in it."

"Yes, what value." Ichigo responded dryly. "You couldn't even sell it."

"It's not that I _couldn't_ sell it, it's that I _wouldn't _sell it." Urahara said cryptically, his blonde hair shielding his eyes from view.

"What?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

"They weren't planning on using it as an energy source, but as a weapon."

Ichigo thought over this idea. "What's its radius?"

"Ten mile instant killing radius, and a possible twenty to twenty-five miles outside of that where there would be high casualties." He said tonelessly.

"That's just great…why couldn't you invent something less destructive?"

The man shrugged. "Guess it's just not in my nature…"

AN: review, please?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ichigo made his way to the bar through the well-dressed crowd. A familiar head of bleach blonde hair caught his eye and he smirked.

"Rum and coke." He told the bartender as the blonde crinkled his nose in disgust. "What's with you, Toshiro?"

"How you can drink that sweet shit is beyond me." He muttered.

Ichigo smirked. "And you're drinking what? Scotch neat? Gross. Besides," he picked up the drink the bartender placed on the counter. "When have you been old enough to drink?"

Toshiro's vibrant teal eyes glared at him. "Aren't you supposed to be out of town or something?"

Ichigo waved his hand in the air. "How could I miss this shindig, eh?"

"I wasn't aware you were particularly interested in this charity function."

"Of course I am very concerned about the…uh…" Ichigo blanked on what the event was actually for.

Toshiro snorted. "This is a benefit to raise money to support the new children's library and museum."

"I knew that."

"Sure you did."

"So, where's Ran-argh…" The rest of Ichigo's sentence was cut off when a strawberry blonde dressed in a low cut white evening gown jumped him and started to squeal her excitement.

"Rangiku, please unhand him."

She looked at him slyly and asked. "Aww, Toshiro, are you jealous?"

He sighed. "No, you are simply suffocating him."

She jumped back with a small laugh when she realized he was right. "Oops, sorry Ichigo."

Ichigo gasped a few times before he managed. "It's okay…" He took another large breath before asking. "So what table are the two of you at?"

"Ten." Toshiro's eyes flashed warningly. "No ironic comments please, it is purely coincidence."

Ichigo smirked but nodded anyways. "Yeah, me too."

Rangiku grabbed each of their wrists before pulling them forward. "Come on, you two…I'm hungry."

The two males followed her passively until they arrived at the predetermined table. Ichigo took the seat where his name was placed and noticed he was sitting to the left of Rangiku. He looked to his left and was unsurprised to see the name, 'Rukia Kuchiki' printed on the card. Urahara sure could pull some strings when he needed to.

He didn't have long to wait before a familiar figure with cold grey eyes made his way through the crowd to table ten. A petite girl followed closely behind him, smiling softly. The first thing Ichigo noticed that she had an air of someone who was used to being in other's shadows. He scanned her quickly, finding no sign of the black diamond.

"Kurosaki, I'm surprised to see you here." Ichigo and Toshiro stood in respect as Rukia took her seat.

"I'm here for the children, Bayakuya." He tried not to smirk as Bayakuya's face tensed a second before the emotionless mask fell once again.

"Indeed." He looked and saw his sister looking quizzically at the table's occupants. "Rukia, I would like to introduce you to a few of my, associates." His eyes flickered towards Toshiro. "Toshiro Hitisugaya, Rangiku Matsumoto and Ichigo Kurosaki."

She inclined her head. "It is a pleasure to meet you all." They returned her sentiments.

Rangiku smiled and tilted her head to the side. "So, Bayakuya, where have you been hiding her? Seems like I should have met her before now."

"Rukia has been studying in Tokyo the last four years. She stayed in Japan when I made the move three years ago. But now that her studies are over, I felt it was time she join me here." His eyes flickered towards Ichigo. "I thought you were visiting your sisters?"

"I was. Something came up, you know Urahara." He shrugged. Bayakuya nodded as if Ichigo's answer did indeed answer his question.

Something across the room caught Rukia's eye. "Oh, excuse me a moment. I just saw Momo. I'm going to say hello." All three men lifted out of their seats as she rose to her feet and dashed off.

Ichigo followed her progress across the room and looked towards the small group of people she was headed for. He couldn't keep the scowl from his face when he saw the tall dark haired man that was standing in the center, Sosuke Aizen. Rukia was talking to the girl on his arm and Ichigo's skin crawled when he noticed the man's eyes focus on her.

"Momo! How are you?" Rukia asked as she gave her friend a half hug.

The dark haired woman smiled and released her hold on her escort to return the hug. "I'm great. Stressed of course…"

"Ah, yeah. Your line's coming out in a few weeks isn't it? How's the shoot going?"

Momo smiled. "It's really going rather well. I found this new model and she's just fantastic. And she's not some snobby bitch like they all seem to be nowadays." She rolled her eyes as Rukia chuckled. "Your coming to the show, right?"

Rukia nodded. "Of course, you'd think I'd miss that?" They chatted for a few more minutes until Rukia returned to table ten as the dinner was getting underway. In her absence the table had filled and Bayakuya and Toshiro were deep in conversation about business.

"How are you liking LA so far?" Ichigo asked.

She smiled. "It's different." She admitted. "But I'm glad to finally be reunited with my brother. I only got to see him a few times in the last three years."

Ichigo nodded. "I know what you mean. I have two little sisters and work prevents me from getting to see them as much as I want."

"Oh, yeah? How much younger?"

Ichigo scratched his head in thought. "Uh, they're four years younger than me…I'm twenty-eight so that makes them twenty-four. They're twins." He added.

Rangiku leaned across Ichigo to talk to Rukia. "So have you scouted out the nightlife yet?"

Rukia shot a sideways look at her brother who raised an eyebrow at the strawberry blonde. "You will not be dragging my younger sister around _those places_ you so routinely frequent."

Rangiku's smile widened. "Ah, Bayakuya. I was talking about Number Nine. You can't possibly think she could get up to any kinda shenanigans there." Bayakuya did not look convinced. She tilted her head to the side and went for the innocent look. "Besides, she would be with me, what could possibly go wrong?" Ichigo tried not to choke on his food.

"Brother, I think that's the place Momo was talking about…" Rukia added softly, as if she was merely stating a fact.

Bayakuya looked from his sister's face to Rangiku's. He sighed. "Fine. But I will be holding you responsible, Rangiku."

She smiled triumphantly. "Of course." Her focus turned back to Rukia. "I'll pick you up tomorrow night? Around eleven or so?'

Rukia nodded, a pleased smile on her face while Bayakuya looked like he was already regretting his decision.

Ichigo leaned back in his chair, a plan already forming in his head.

AN: so…review? Please?


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